Spring City man admits role in tri-county cocaine trafficking ring

NORRISTOWN – A Spring City man, a “middleman” who worked with a Montgomery Township drug kingpin, admitted to his role in the drug ring that targeted Montgomery, Chester and Philadelphia counties.

Michael Tyrone Hampton, 41, of the 400 block of South Main Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to four-to-eight years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver 19 grams of cocaine in connection with incidents that occurred in April 2011. The sentence was imposed by Judge William R. Carpenter, who accepted a plea agreement in the case.

With the charges, county detectives alleged Hampton was associated with the corrupt organization operated by Anthony Dennis Sr., 41, of the 100 block of Thames Drive, Montgomery Township, who at the time of his arrest operated the “Heads Up” barbershop on Upper Gulph Road near Wayne, Chester County.

“He was a drug dealer getting cocaine off of the higher members of the organization. He was a middleman in the organization, getting drugs and then selling it himself to his own customers,” alleged Assistant District Attorney Jason Whalley, referring to Hampton.

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The 19 grams of cocaine were seized from Hampton’s residence during the investigation.

Dennis pleaded guilty last week to multiple charges of corrupt organizations, possession with intent to deliver cocaine, dealing in unlawful proceeds, criminal use of a communication facility and conspiracy in connection with incidents that occurred between November 2008 and April 2011.

Dennis’ personal trainer brother, Michael, 36, of Earl Street, Philadelphia, another target of the investigation, opted to go to trial with two other alleged drug customers of the organization. On Friday, Michael Dennis, and Patrick Wedderburn, 33, of Upper Merion, and Karl Myers, 37, of Philadelphia, were convicted by a jury of multiple drug-related offenses.

The Dennis brothers, Hampton, Wedderburn and Myers were among 27 people arrested in 2011 as part of an investigation dubbed “Operation Heads Up,” in connection with their alleged involvement in the corrupt organization.

During the investigation of the Dennis brothers, simultaneous raids by 72 law enforcement officers at 21 locations in the three counties on May 18, 2011, resulted in the seizure of four pounds of cocaine with a street value of $204,800, 14 vehicles, a 19-foot-long fishing boat from a storage facility in Collegeville, more than $76,000 in cash and 12 firearms, according to authorities.

The investigation began in November 2008 in Tredyffrin as township police and members of the Chester County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Task Force investigated the barbershop as an alleged hub of the cocaine trafficking operation.

Authorities alleged the Dennis brothers were engaged in the sale of large quantities of cocaine to various individuals including cocaine dealers in Montgomery County.

The arrests were the culmination of a wiretap investigation into the activities of those allegedly involved in the drug ring.